


you put your name on my pencil case

by gravitropism



Series: Grad Students!AU [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Graduate School, I'll add more tags eventually, M/M, baekyeol!bffs like whoa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 22:04:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9462077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gravitropism/pseuds/gravitropism
Summary: Kyungsoo watches Baekhyun try to court Jongin, with varying degrees of success. Grad School!AU.





	

**Author's Note:**

> WOW this is dialogue heavy. I edited it myself so if you see mistakes let me know. Title from LVTHER's Dots.

Kyungsoo takes a sip from his thermos. The coffee from lunch is still warm, thank god.

“—And so then the little brat decides to start begging, and I told him no fucking way, because Professor Swanson would kick my ass if I let some little slacker get a better grade on a paper just because his mommy is mad. Suck my dick, kid, this isn’t charity,” Baekhyun prattles on. Kyungsoo is only half paying attention; his mind is still on the section about possible uses of various feathers in his latest paper.

He adjusts the stack of crap that he’s carrying under his other arm, and considers what Baekhyun has just told him. “Yeah, but did he have his mom call the school? We need to start the tally up again; I had one do that just last week. Fucking helicopter parents, get a grip,” Kyungsoo snorts, “and which room number did Chanyeol say he was in now? Because Peartree Hall is huge.”

They walk up the front steps of Peartree Hall, pausing at the giant board of names and room numbers. Chanyeol is a physics major, and a second year graduate student, like them.

Baekhyun trails his finger down the long list of Professors. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s Professor Lee? Not Professor Li like last semester, Lee with two e’s. This one is actually Korean, Chanyeol’s thrilled about that.”

Kyungsoo lifts his eyebrows. “Oh, good for him. And no, that can’t be it,” he says when Baekhyun points to a Professor Lee on the first floor of the building, “it’s definitely on the third floor, the first floor is only offices.”

Baekhyun grunts. “We’ll just go there, then, and ask for directions.” The pair climb the stairs to the third floor. Both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are history students, but with different concentrations. Kyungsoo’s focus is on the Aztec civilization while Baekhyun is deep into the Native American tribes in the New Mexico area.

Once on the third floor, Kyungsoo looks around. The whole place smells suspiciously of burnt hair, and there are cabinets full of who knows what lining the halls. Quite a difference compared to the “cozy” offices of the history department.

Baekhyun peers through a window in one of the doors. “Well, that one has test tubes, so that can’t be it. Why isn’t Jongdae here, again?”

“Grading,” Kyungsoo mutters, distracted by a poster with some glowing mushrooms, “The calculus class he TAs for had an exam yesterday, so he’s stuck until 9 picking up the other TA’s slack. You know, the asshole he always complains about? That fucker.” --at this, Baekhyun makes a face-- “Exactly. The one that smells like tuna.”

“Um... can I help you?” A new voice tentatively pokes into their conversation. Kyungsoo turns to find a tan-ish guy with chocolate brown hair blinking sleepily at them.

Shifting his belongings, Kyungsoo nods. “Yeah, we’re looking for Professor Lee’s lab?”

“Our friend Chanyeol works there,” Baekhyun says, walking over to stand next to Kyungsoo, “We want him specifically.”

The guy narrows his eyes. “Wait, red hair and tattoos Chanyeol? Park Chanyeol?” The tattoos were actually a rather recent addition. Last year, Chanyeol had finally saved up enough to get a large one, and the three of them had accompanied him to get it done. Kyungsoo regretted that. Chanyeol was scared of needles. There were tears involved. At least Baekhyun has some blackmail pictures saved on his phone.

Baekhyun glances at Kyungsoo, and then focuses back on the guy. “Yeah, that one. Do you know him?”

The man brightens. “Yeah, I know Chanyeol. We bumped into each other on my first day, as in literally bumped, he knocked me to the ground” – Kyungsoo snorts, that was so Chanyeol – “and then he bought me coffee to apologize. We’ve hung out around here a few times. I’m Jongin, by the way.” He’s definitely younger than them, he just looks it. Probably a first year? The ripped skinny jeans scream young... although if Kyungsoo had thighs like that he would probably wear ripped skinny jeans too. He makes a mental note to ask Chanyeol a little more information about the guy.

Baekhyun grins. “I’m Baekhyun, and this is Kyungsoo. I’m actually Chanyeol’s best friend of twenty years and roommate, and Kyungsoo lives next to us. You should join us for dinner sometime.” Jongin nods.

“That sounds like fun. Um, I have to get going, but Professor Lee’s lab is 326; it’s back that way,” he says, gesturing behind himself, “Let’s plan on dinner sometime soon, yeah?”

Kyungsoo waves. “Yeah, see you around, Jongin.” Jongin smiles, and walks off down the hall.

Baekhyun watches him go, and once he’s out of sight, immediately latches onto Kyungsoo’s arm and proceeds to shake him.

“Kyungsoo oh my god Jongin is so hot. Did you see those thighs? Killer. I’m going to die here, Kyungsoo, please help me I need to--”

Kyungsoo tugs his arm away. “Dammit, Baekhyun, yes, I noticed. Get to know him a little first, would you?”

“But that ass, man, I don’t think I can just let that go... Wait, Chanyeol bought him coffee!” A look of realization slowly spreads over his face. “Shit. I need to go call dibs!” Baekhyun tears off down the hall looking for the room, nearly screeching to a halt and rapping smartly on what Kyungsoo assumes was 326.

As Kyungsoo more calmly walks over to stand next to Baekhyun, the door opens, and a short man with reddish brown hair pokes his head out.

“Hi, can I help you two?”

“Yeah, does a certain Park--”

“GUYS! I’m sorry, I lost track of time!” Chanyeol appears behind the shorter man, and grins. “This is Minseok, Minseok these are my friends, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. Kyungsoo is the one with the black hair, Baekhyun brown.”

Minseok makes a small ‘ah’ noise. “So this is the roommate and friend? Nice to meet you, Chanyeol talks about you guys all the time.”

Kyungsoo nods. “Yep, that’s us. We’re missing my roommate, though, he’s busy at the moment.” Looking at Chanyeol, he says, “Come on, I’m starving and I want to get a booth at the restaurant.”

“Alright. I just finished my shit, so lemme grab my bag and we can go,” Chanyeol whines, turning and walking further into the room.

Minseok shifts to lean against the door frame. “Pizza?” he asks, smiling slightly, “Chanyeol has been talking about food for half the afternoon, and I won’t lie, that sounds great right now. Pity I have more work to do.” Minseok is the owner of a very nice pair of biceps, Kyungsoo notes.

“You’ll have to come with us next time,” Baekhyun encourages, “We’ve been looking for new recruits as well as someone who tells better jokes than Chanyeol.”

Laughing, Minseok says, “I’m not sure if my jokes are any good, but I’ll come to the next pizza dinner. Just let me know.”

Chanyeol reappears behind him, backpack slung over his shoulder. “I heard that, Baekhyunnie,” he gripes, turning, “But seriously, come with us. You’ll get along well with Jongdae, too.”

“Don’t worry, Chanyeol, I will. Now go enjoy yourselves,” Minseok says, waving them off. Chanyeol waves back, and gently nudges Kyungsoo and Baekhyun along.

“Bye, hyung!” he says. Minseok chuckles and turns back into the lab. “Seriously, Minseok has a lot to do today.”

They walk alongside each other down the mildly cramped hallway, feet scuffing on the dull tiles. In truth, all four of them (including Jongdae) are ridiculously busy. Kyungsoo himself has some grading to catch up on, but it’s due Friday and it’s only Tuesday, so he doesn’t really have to worry.

“Yeah okay but like dibs on Jongin,” Baekhyun suddenly blurts out.

Chanyeol gives Baekhyun a wide-eyed look. “Okay? Like that sounds good to me, do what you want.” Kyungsoo snorts. You’d think that with all of their years of friendship they’d have a better communication system.

“What Baekhyun is trying to say,” Kyungsoo says, herding them down the stairs and out of the building, “is that we ran into Jongin on our way to come pick you up. He mentioned that you bought him coffee, and because Baekhyun thinks Jongin is hot (which he is, but I’m not going to try and date him), he wants to establish that he has monopoly over romantic and sexual relations with him.”

Baekhyun nods. “Yes, that. Our Kyungsoo, always so articulate,” he coos, as he attempts to poke Kyungsoo in the stomach. Kyungsoo works on slapping his hands away while Chanyeol processes the information.

“OH! You think I want to date Jongin!” he exclaims, nearly dropping his bag, “No, I mean I agree that he’s hot, but I’m not really interested because I sort of have a crush on someone else.”

“That’s a relief,” sighs Baekhyun, the tension dropping out of him momentarily, “but wait what, you didn’t tell me you had a crush on someone else.” The group pauses in their conversation momentarily to cross the street.

Chanyeol shrugs and runs a hand through his bright red dyed hair. “It’s a recent development, honestly. I was visiting Jongin on my break once and I happened to meet one of the other students in his lab; he’s the same year as us, I think? His name is Yixing, he’s really pretty and his collarbones are gorgeous. That’s all.”

“That’s all? That’s all you’re gonna say? Come on, Yeol, I need something to work with here!” Baekhyun whines, dropping his assault on Kyungsoo and pawing at Chanyeol, who attempts to dance out of reach.

“I’m pretty sure talking about this shit is on our disclosure agreement; remember that time we got drunk and typed up a document saying we had to tell each other about this kind of stuff to the best of our ability?” Kyungsoo adds to Baekhyun’s plea.

The other two turn to look at him. “I don’t remember there being a disclosure agreement?” Chanyeol asks slowly.

“Yeah, you were blackout drunk, but it totally still counts.”

“Kyungsoo, I don’t remember that either.”

Kyungsoo sighs, and opens the door to the pizza place, ushering them in. “Damn. Well there goes that attempt. It was worth a try. Catch on next time, Baekhyun.”

Looks of realization dawn on both of their faces. Baekhyun swears. “I totally could have used that, fucking hell, Kyungsoo.”

The group slides into their favorite booth, Chanyeol and Baekhyun on one side and Kyungsoo on the other. Pizza together is their weekly ritual; it gives them a chance to all sit down and catch up, as well as being a brief respite from their heavy workload. It’s a pity that Jongdae couldn’t come, because Kyungsoo hadn’t had a good talk with him lately. 

He’d order extra and save some. Jongdae deserved it.

\--

A day later, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are sitting in the History department lounge, holding their twice-weekly office hours. Also known as grading and gossiping with each other, because it’s infrequent that anyone actually comes with a legitimate question.

“So obviously I asked Chanyeol for Jongin’s number, which he gave to me, so I said Chanyeol why do you have his number and he said whoa Baekhyun he wants to come over for dinner sometime so we swapped, and then I asked about his crush on Yixing, but he refused to tell me anything about it,” Baekhyun prattles on, his red pen leaving indentations on the paper he was grading.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “You two are fucking ridiculous when it comes to dating, I swear. I could never date either of you.”

At this Baekhyun scoots closer to Kyungsoo and bats his eyelashes. “Aww, really? Why not? Aren’t I adorable?”

“Adorable, sure, but also the most obnoxious person on the planet. I saw you pining after Jonghyun last year; don’t fucking deny that you’re an annoying piece of shit.”

“Hey, I can’t help that he looked like a Greek god, but shorter--”

A student from one of Kyungsoo’s classes taps him on the shoulder. “Um, I had a question about one of your comments on the last paper?” Kyungsoo restrains himself from leaping out of his skin and turns to face the student. Oh, this kid, with the face, and a name that probably exists but Kyungsoo sure as hell can’t remember it.

“Sure, have a seat and we can talk about it.” He ignores the faces Baekhyun is making, and focuses his attention on the kid instead. He doesn’t seem to understand basic concepts of human religion, dammit, and it isn’t Kyungsoo’s problem.

As the boy leaves, hopefully less stupid, Kyungsoo turns back to Baekhyun, who immediately begins talking again.

“Do you think I should text Jongin? I think I should. He wouldn’t mind, right?”

“I think pretty much anyone would be annoyed to get a text from you,” Kyungsoo says, marking a C- on a paper and moving onto the next one.

“Speaking of which, don’t you have a thing for that one sociology student that’s friends with Jonghyun? What was his name? Minho?”

Kyungsoo grunts. “Yes, his name is Minho. We don’t exactly talk, though, so it’s not going to happen.” He shifts in his seat, and debates the consequences of kicking Baekhyun under the table.

“I bet I could get you his number,” Baekhyun crows, giving up on grading.

“No, thank you,” Kyungsoo mutters, tapping Baekhyun’s papers with his red pen. He would regret it later if Kyungsoo didn’t force him. “I’m good for now.”

\--

That Saturday, Kyungsoo and Jongdae head over to Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s for dinner. More like Kyungsoo and occasionally Chanyeol make dinner for the other two while they mess around somewhere, either fighting or playing video games. Personally, Kyungsoo thinks that if he and Chanyeol didn’t cook for the other two, they would either end up dead or malnourished. He’s seen Baekhyun try to cook; ramen is about the limit.

Kyungsoo pokes his head into the fridge. “Should we do chicken? You have chicken, right?”

Chanyeol gives a confirmation from across the room. “Yeah, let’s do chicken. It’s under the block of cheese on the third shelf.” Kyungsoo pulls out the meat and begins cutting.

“Use all of it, we’re having a few more people over tonight,” he says cheerfully, sliding into place beside Kyungsoo, who decides that giving him a look is the best response to that information.

“Who else is coming?” he asks cautiously, gripping his knife tighter.

Chanyeol sees his slight movement and swallows. “Um, no one special, just Jongin and one of his friends?”

Baekhyun’s voice carries. “Park Chanyeol, how about you come over here and clarify yourself?” Chanyeol whimpers and slowly walks back over to the sofa where Baekhyun and Jongdae were sitting.

“He said he wanted to come to dinner? So I just invited him.”

“Without telling me? My hair looks like shit today!”

Jongdae pipes up. “It looks like normal, Baekhyun, don’t worry.”

“No it doesn’t,” Baekhyun nearly shouts, pawing at his head and trying to smooth his hair. The doorbell rings, and Kyungsoo uses his knife to direct Chanyeol to get it.

Baekhyun immediately relaxes and goes back to playing video games with Jongdae, who had been sitting disgruntled waiting for Baekhyun to calm himself.

Chanyeol gets the door, opening it to reveal Jongin (who was once again in a pair of thigh-hugging jeans, man if only Kyungsoo’s thighs were that toned...) and his blonde friend.

“Hi guys, thanks for letting Sehun tag along with me,” he says, waving, as he walks through the door. Baekhyun sets down his controller and drags Jongdae with him to greet them.

The group goes through introductions, with Kyungsoo washing his hands briefly to introduce himself to Jongin’s friend Sehun, who apparently is also a first year biology student.

Sehun is kind enough to help out with the preparation of the food, although Kyungsoo had insisted that he didn’t have to. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Baekhyun pulling Jongin down to sit on the couch with him. Baekhyun looks eager, Jongin looks overwhelmed. He’d have to talk to Baekhyun about that.

Kyungsoo drags a few more chairs over to their dining table, and directs Sehun to set out plates. Kyungsoo likes Sehun; he’s helpful, quiet, and thoughtful, if a bit of an asshole. But that’s okay, because Kyungsoo can be a bit of an asshole too. Asshole in the tough-love-to-your-friends kind of way.

“So, Jongin, Sehun, what are you working on right now?” Kyungsoo asks, sitting down with the rest of the group. He delicately pokes Baekhyun’s toe under the table.

“Right now we’re busy with viral translation...” Jongin begins speaking, and Baekhyun gives Kyungsoo a look.

What, he mouths. Kyungsoo sighs and inclines his head in Jongin’s direction. Baekhyun raises an eyebrow before turning and nodding along with what Jongin was saying.

“Well, I’m not sure what all those words meant, but I’d love to have you explain it all to me some time,” he says with an unsubtle bat of his eyelashes. At this, Jongin looks distinctly ruffled. Kyungsoo is having a hard time containing a snort.

Jongdae gives Kyungsoo his own nudge, and a questioning look at Baekhyun. Kyungsoo just bites into a piece of chicken and rolls his eyes in reply, causing Jongdae to shake his head.

Chanyeol perks up at something Jongin says. “Wait, you know Yixing-hyung?”

Jongin nods, “Yeah, he’s a second year biology student. We’re working with him at the moment.”

“He’s hilarious,” Sehun speaks up, swallowing, “Clueless a lot of the time, but he makes it funny. He told me that he busks occasionally, I think he plays the guitar?”

Chanyeol has a vaguely dreamy look on his face. Ah. There we go, that’s who Chanyeol has a crush on. Kyungsoo glances back over at Baekhyun, who was still fixating on Jongin. Idiot. He’d have to explain all of this to him later.

\--

After dinner, Baekhyun is drying dishes for Kyungsoo when he suddenly bursts out, “Wait, did Jongin hate me? Did I come on too strong? Kyungsoo, I fucked it up, didn’t I?” Kyungsoo pauses with a soapy dish in his hands, and gives Baekhyun a look.

“You came on real strong, dumbass,” Kyungsoo mutters, going back to washing, “He’s fucking shy, you should have realized that.” He passes the rinsed dish to Baekhyun, who is looking like a kicked puppy. “And stop making that face, this is your fault.”

“What the fuck do I do, then? He probably thinks I’m an idiot--”

“—which you are,”

“Thanks for that, and a creeper. But I just think he’s cute and I want to get to know him because he seems nice?”

Kyungsoo gently sets down the dish he is holding and then proceeds to slam his hands down on the edge of the sink, causing Baekhyun to jump and yelp.

“Then just go up to him and talk to him like a normal human being, dammit! Talk to him like you would me or Jongdae!”

“Why not Chanyeol?”

“I’ve heard some of the shit you say to each other, no normal person needs to know that much about their best friend.”

“Fair enough. But what do I say to him?” Baekhyun whines, wrapping the towel around his neck. Kyungsoo nearly run a hand through his hair in frustration before remembering both hands are wet and soapy.

“Get to know him! You don’t know anything about his hobbies, so why don’t you find out? Then talk to him about that! Jesus fucking christ, Byun, you’re twenty-three! You should have this figured out by now!” Kyungsoo nearly yells, picking up a spare towel and swatting at Baekhyun with it.

Baekhyun, used to Kyungsoo’s rough treatment, dances out of the way. “Alright, alright, jeez, no need to get violent. Next time we see him I’ll mention music or something, and I’ll keep it chill.”

Good enough. “Good. You do that. Now get working, these dishes aren’t drying themselves.”

“I mean technically...”

“Just do it, Baekhyun!”

\--

Kyungsoo decides it would be a good idea to hold a study group in the library. He and Baekhyun have a few papers due in the upcoming week, and he wants some peer review. Baekhyun is about the only one qualified to read and comment on his work (or at least, the only one that Kyungsoo is friendly with and doesn’t reek of tuna fish), and he invites the others because, well, why the hell not? They all need to get work done.

They end up at a big table all together, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Jongdae, Jongin, Sehun, and Chanyeol has managed to drag Minseok along to help him out with a few things.

Baekhyun carefully and casually sits down next to Jongin, and Kyungsoo warily settles on his other side. He’s hoping to monitor Baekhyun’s actions and nudge him if things are going south.

“Hey, Jongin, what are you working on?” Baekhyun asks, his voice the picture of normal.

“Um, just some graphs?”

“Neat. Kyungsoo wanted me to edit his paper since our topics are so similar.”

“Oh, really? What do you guys study?”

“Well...” Kyungsoo is proud of Baekhyun. He takes a second to revel in his perchance for giving great advice.

Minseok, who happens to be sitting on Kyungsoo’s other side, taps his shoulder. “Does Baekhyun have a thing for Jongin?” he asks quietly, gesturing at the pair, Jongin now willingly responding to Baekhyun’s questions.

Kyungsoo nods absentmindedly, once again focusing on his paper. “Yeah, he’s damn infatuated, and it’s annoying. Won’t shut up about him.”

“Huh,” Minseok comments, watching Baekhyun laugh loudly. “I hope something good comes out of it. I don’t know Jongin very well, but I feel like they would be a great couple.”

“If Jongin can handle Baekhyun, yes, yes they would,” Kyungsoo mutters, finally looking up from his paper up at Minseok. The older student is absentmindedly chewing on the end of his pen, occasionally glancing at Baekhyun and Jongin.

“Good point. Baekhyun seems like he’s a lot to handle sometimes.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I’m the one who has to work with him. He’s good at what he does, though.”

\--

It’s high time for a trip to the grocery store, so the four of them, Kyungsoo, Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol all haul ass over to the local shop. Grocery store trips are a struggle for Kyungsoo because he has to prevent the other three from buying only snacks.

Pushing the cart down the refrigerated isle, he pauses to look at the options of cheese available. What would go well together for a mac and cheese bake?

“I’m not telling you any more than that,” Chanyeol is saying, adding a jug of orange juice to their cart. “It’s still pretty lowkey, so if you really want to learn more about him, go ask Jongin, Baekhyun.”

A frustrated noise comes from somewhere behind Kyungsoo. “I can’t just do that, he’ll think I’m either creepy or interested in Yixing, neither of which I want.”

While Baekhyun whines about how difficult Jongin is to talk to, Kyungsoo makes up his mind, and throws three blocks of cheese into the cart, then continues down the aisle. What else does he need for mac and cheese? Oh, right, heavy cream, which should be just around the corner.

“And what about Kyungsoo, and his crush on Minho? Can’t we grill him instead of me?”

Kyungsoo whips his head around to glare at Baekhyun. “Don’t you dare, I swear on everything you love, Byun Baekhyun.”

Jongdae gestures at Kyungsoo with lifted eyebrows. “See? That’s why we don’t grill him, because he’ll beat our asses. Get him drunk first and it’ll be fine.”

An excited Chanyeol speaks up. “Speaking of which, can we have people over this weekend? I think we’re long due for a drunk movie marathon, and I finished most of this week’s work already.”

And give Kyungsoo more cleanup? Preferably not, but there isn’t much Kyungsoo can do when they put on the Sharknado series and start a rowdy drinking game. He has to admit, that can get fun, but also very intoxicated very fast.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Baekhyun muses, and taps Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Can we get Oreos? I know you hate them, but I get cravings.”

“I don’t hate them, Baekhyun. That would be like hating fun. We don’t need to buy cookies when I can make them,” Kyungsoo reasons, knocking Baekhyun’s had away. Fucker needs to stop touching him.

“But Oreos are something special. It’s difficult to recreate the delicate flavor balance between the heavily processed cookie and frosting that may or may not contain any actual food,” Baekhyun whines, holding up the blue package and pouting.

Jongdae snorts. “You’re a grown-ass man, stop trying to puppy-eye your way to unhealthy food.”

“I don’t think Oreos are actually that bad. Aren’t they vegan or something?” Chanyeol adds in.

“Just because something is vegan doesn’t mean it isn’t shit for you,” Jongdae laughs, plopping a container of orange juice into the cart. Kyungsoo has taught him well.

Nudging Chanyeol out of the way with the front of the cart, Kyungsoo picks up a container of cream cheese. Should he buy two, or wait for Jongdae to finish the first one? “Fine, Baekhyun, just don’t eat the whole package in one sitting,” he concedes. Baekhyun is technically an adult, and if he wants to make poor choices, that’s up to him. “No complaining about your hips, though.”

Baekhyun makes a face, but puts the Oreos in the cart anyway. “My hips aren’t that bad,” he mutters, and Chanyeol elbows him in the side.

“You say that now, but they will be after those Oreos,” the taller crows. As the pair engage in a furious whispered catfight, Kyungsoo drops the cream cheese in the cart.

“Alright, settle down, both of you. Also, how are things with Jongin, Baekhyun? I haven’t heard you complaining the past few days,” Kyungsoo inquires. It’s definitely time for a subject change.

“Ooh, good point. Do tell us, Baekhyunnie,” Jongdae croons. “Have you made any progress, or has Jongin been scared off by all the obnoxious?” Finishing their shopping, the group moves toward the checkout, and gets into line.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, real funny, guys. I’ll have you know I have actually made some progress. I got his number a few days ago, and we’ve been texting. Not rapid fire, but he replies at least once an hour, which apparently for Jongin is good.”

They move up in line, and Kyungsoo starts loading the groceries onto the belt with Chanyeol’s help. “That’s good, Baek, I think I’m actually proud of you,” he says, allowing Baekhyun to pat him on the back for once.

Baekhyun beams. “I don’t know why I’m so happy to receive your approval, but I suddenly feel a lot better about the direction my life is taking.” Kyungsoo snorts.

“You should totally ask him on a date, though,” Jongdae says, and grabs the tissues from the bottom rack of the cart. “I swear, he went red when I mentioned your name the other day.”

Lifting his eyebrows, Baekhyun glances at Jongdae. “You guys talk? Not that I’m jealous, or anything. I just didn’t know that you knew him well.”

Jongdae shakes his head. “We happened to run into each other near the Union.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, oh my god. He was coming out, I was going in, and we stopped to talk. Guess what? I even mentioned your name, being the good friend that I am, and he blushed!”

Baekhyun looks thrilled. “This is definitely going better than I expected. What did he say in reply?”

Jongdae furrows his eyebrows. “I can’t remember the exact phrasing, but I said something like ‘Oh, Baekhyun was telling me something about you yesterday,’ and he said ‘Oh did he, does he talk about me a lot’ and I didn’t want to be too obvious, you know, because I’m such a good friend. So I said, ‘Well you know Baekhyun he talks a lot in general,’ and then we both laughed.”

“I would be mildly offended, but I realize that what you said is entirely true.” Baekhyun nods. “Good job.”

Jongdae looks at him strangely. “Thanks?”

Baekhyun simply smiles and smacks him on the back. Kyungsoo had been watching the exchange in amusement, but he turns away to pay for the groceries. They spilt the bill appropriately when they get home; it’s just easier for one person to pay for the cart.

“You should just get on with it and ask him out, Baekhyun. This is getting ridiculous,” Jongdae is saying as Kyungsoo finishes up. He ropes Chanyeol into pushing their cart to the parking lot, and the four of them walk to Chanyeol’s car.

“Jongdae is right. It’s time,” Kyungsoo admonishes, socking Baekhyun lightly in the arm. “Next time you see him in person, you better do it.”

“I will, I will, alright? Get off my case.”

\--

The next time is conveniently pizza night. The usual four of them are there, along with Jongin and Sehun, who have persuaded Yixing to come (much to Chanyeol’s delight). Minseok has been dragged along by Chanyeol, bringing their group to eight.

They all sit down at one of the larger tables (an upgrade from the booths, in Kyungsoo’s opinion), and fight about what pizza to order. Kyungsoo notices that Baekhyun, who’s on his right, is sitting across from Jongin. Interesting.

He himself is seated at one end of the table across from Minseok, who has his chin propped on a fist, and is pointedly staying out of the argument.

“Loud, aren’t they?” Kyungsoo mutters, voice carrying just enough for Minseok to hear. The older student laughs, and moves to rest his arms on the table.

“Got that right. Your friends are nice people, but they never seem to stop talking. I should have realized from Chanyeol, honestly,” he chuckles in reply.

“Sorry if they’re too much, I’ll make sure Chanyeol doesn’t force you to come to any more group dinners if you’d rather not come,” Kyungsoo apologizes.

Minseok looks alarmed, and shakes his head. “No, no, I’m just tired right now. I could use a little excitement. Plus, you’re good company.”

“Thanks,” Kyungsoo says, blinking. Strange compliment, but he’ll take it.

“Your welcome.”

The rest of dinner passes as usual, but with Baekhyun actually talking to Jongin instead of doing, well, something else. Kyungsoo has a decent conversation with Minseok, who is surprisingly interested in Kyungsoo’s own research.

They spilt the bill like usual, and Kyungsoo carries on his conversation with Minseok as they walk out. He notices Baekhyun pulling Jongin to the side, and halts Minseok with a hand on his shoulder, discreetly gesturing towards the couple.

“Looks like Baek is finally taking action,” he murmurs, keeping his voice down low.

Minseok glances over, and looks back at Kyungsoo, eyes glinting. “Indeed he is. I’ll be busy for the next week or so; think you could keep me updated?”

Kyungsoo accidently lets loose a chuckle. “Sure thing. Oh, you should probably give me your phone number then.” He pulls out his phone and passes it to Minseok, who types his number in, and quickly returns it to him. “I’ll just,” Kyungsoo says, waving the phone, then texts the new number. “—There. That’s mine.”

Minseok gives him a grin. “Thanks. I’ve got to go now, but see you around?”

Nodding, Kyungsoo says, “Yeah, see you.”

He leaves with a cheerful wave, and Kyungsoo focuses his attention back on Baekhyun and Jongin. Baekhyun has a hand resting on Jongin’s shoulder, and Jongin is laughing. Going well then, good for them. Kyungsoo turns to Chanyeol and Jongdae, who are saying goodbye to the rest of their friends.

A few minutes later, he hears Baekhyun saying his goodbyes. He pops up beside Kyungsoo, eyes nearly sparkling.

“Well?” Kyungsoo says with a raised eyebrow.

“We’re going to get ice cream together tomorrow,” Baekhyun says excitedly, “and it’s definitely a date.”

Kyungsoo has never felt so proud.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi thanks for reading. I challenged myself to write 500 words a day this year so this is part of a series. The next part will be out in a month or less (it's written, but not edited), same for the subsequent bits.


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